The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing them of violating copyright law by training generative AI models on Times’ content without its consent. The Times claims that millions of its articles were used to train AI models, including those underpinning OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot.

The Times is calling for OpenAI and Microsoft to “destroy” models and training data containing the offending material and to be held responsible for “billions of dollars in statutory and actual damages” related to the “unlawful copying and use of The Times’s uniquely valuable works.” The Times also argues that OpenAI and Microsoft are effectively building news publisher competitors using The Times’ works, harming The Times’ business by providing information that couldn’t normally be accessed without a subscription.

The New York Times wants OpenAI and Microsoft to pay for training data